There is No New Thing Under the Sun
My old blog that Bill over at the Skinny so generously hosted for so long was a different animal than this one. Over there I wrote opinion pieces, book reviews, not-very-well-thought-out theories, etc. This one has pretty much turned into a "this is what I've been up to" thing.
Since I haven't been up to much I think I'll post some old stuff that was over at the other site for a lack of anything else to post. Much of the stuff I wrote over there is lost. (Although I probably could e-mail Bill and ask him if I can get it) But from time to time I would save some stuff. Maybe I'll post that stuff.
Anyway, here is the first e-mail I sent out after completing the Annapurna trek through the Himalayas:
Namaste!(place hands together in front of chest or forehead - nuh-muh-STAY - I salute the God within you)
Well we're back from our trek of the Annapurna section of the Himalayas. We began our adventure by hopping a bus to our starting town called Besi Sahar. We rode inside the cramped bus for most of the trip until we reached a military check post. ("We have a little Maoist problem.") After they checked us out and waved us through with their machine guns from behind their sandbag bunkers, Shane and I climbed to the roof and rode up there the rest of the way.
Now this is the way to see Nepal. The mountain scene opened up before us as the warm wind blew away the stuffiness from the interior of the bus. The only two problems with this is that 1) you have to keep an eye out for low hanging branches and electrical wires and 2) you get a great view of how many times the driver almost plunges the bus over the cliff-side of the highway as he barells around blind corners of the almost one lane highway. Bus carcasses of the less skillful drivers littered the highway along the way.
Anyway, our trek brought us through numerous scene changes every day. We stopped at one tea stall and I told Shane that I was going to stay with the vendor (this was on our first day in our first hour). I think her name was Mentjula. The women are so beautiful! Their eyes have a deep glow and their whole face lights up when they smile. (almost like back home)
It's so difficult to describe the experience so I'll just throw out some random scenes. Butterflies of all colours cut jerkily across the path. Wondering if the rickety bamboo bridge you're crossing has one more cross in it. Green mountains with uniform rice paddies cut out of the mountain side surround us in all directions. In the background huge snow covered peaks touch the sky as the clouds roll over the tops casting their growing shadow below. Narrow ledges on sheer rock cliffs, thick forest that looks like Point Aux Pins, open valleys that change with every step, flat plateaus with tiny souvenier stalls,
Some soundscapes: Men following their mule caravans,directing them with whistles, karate yells and stick slapping, the constant rumble of the blue-grey Marsyangdi Khola (river), the rising and fading growl of the countless waterfalls we passed (anyone who will see our photos will be thinking "Oh great, another waterfall shot"), Nepali uniformed children on their way to school singing and asking for "Pensweetsbuiscuits", the constant "Namaste" from everyone to everyone, the low pitched "dong" from the bells attached to the donkeys to alert you of their approach, the Canadian couple we met arguing through the thin walls...getting colder the higher we go...
um smells.....donkeys and the spectrum of smells that emit from them, Nepali cigarettes, green tangerines (the best I've ever tasted, eh T?), flatulence, apples (Ray Liotta smells like apples!), various plant smells tough to describe, Nepalis cooking lunch, sleeping bag smells like moth balls, mentholated Tiger Balm.
...getting so cold that you seriously consider filling your sleeping bag rather than braving the cold for the call of nature....Gross!
Finally made it up to the goal - 5416m (17700 feet) up to the Thorung La pass - the highest in the world. Three 8 hour days downhill - blistered, bloody and bruised feet. Arrive at our end town, Beni. Hopped a bus to Pokahara, climbed up to the roof to meet our travelling companion - the world's dumbest sheep. Someone decided that they really need to take their sheep to Pokhara so they tied it to the roof by it's neck and it would not sit down the whole ride no matter how hard we tried. It kept pissing all over the roof - good thing we were going so slow the wind wasn't strong enough to spray it on us. We kept it facing us with our boots so it wouldn't turn around and hit us with some other form of relief. Well that's the adventure in a nut shell. It's really long. Thanks for reading it.
love, ludger
p.s. I dreamt I punched out Burt Renolds 'cause he stole my mail.
p.p.s. Sorry if I sent this twice. These Nepali computers are zany AND wacky!
My old blog that Bill over at the Skinny so generously hosted for so long was a different animal than this one. Over there I wrote opinion pieces, book reviews, not-very-well-thought-out theories, etc. This one has pretty much turned into a "this is what I've been up to" thing.
Since I haven't been up to much I think I'll post some old stuff that was over at the other site for a lack of anything else to post. Much of the stuff I wrote over there is lost. (Although I probably could e-mail Bill and ask him if I can get it) But from time to time I would save some stuff. Maybe I'll post that stuff.
Anyway, here is the first e-mail I sent out after completing the Annapurna trek through the Himalayas:
Namaste!(place hands together in front of chest or forehead - nuh-muh-STAY - I salute the God within you)
Well we're back from our trek of the Annapurna section of the Himalayas. We began our adventure by hopping a bus to our starting town called Besi Sahar. We rode inside the cramped bus for most of the trip until we reached a military check post. ("We have a little Maoist problem.") After they checked us out and waved us through with their machine guns from behind their sandbag bunkers, Shane and I climbed to the roof and rode up there the rest of the way.
Now this is the way to see Nepal. The mountain scene opened up before us as the warm wind blew away the stuffiness from the interior of the bus. The only two problems with this is that 1) you have to keep an eye out for low hanging branches and electrical wires and 2) you get a great view of how many times the driver almost plunges the bus over the cliff-side of the highway as he barells around blind corners of the almost one lane highway. Bus carcasses of the less skillful drivers littered the highway along the way.
Anyway, our trek brought us through numerous scene changes every day. We stopped at one tea stall and I told Shane that I was going to stay with the vendor (this was on our first day in our first hour). I think her name was Mentjula. The women are so beautiful! Their eyes have a deep glow and their whole face lights up when they smile. (almost like back home)
It's so difficult to describe the experience so I'll just throw out some random scenes. Butterflies of all colours cut jerkily across the path. Wondering if the rickety bamboo bridge you're crossing has one more cross in it. Green mountains with uniform rice paddies cut out of the mountain side surround us in all directions. In the background huge snow covered peaks touch the sky as the clouds roll over the tops casting their growing shadow below. Narrow ledges on sheer rock cliffs, thick forest that looks like Point Aux Pins, open valleys that change with every step, flat plateaus with tiny souvenier stalls,
Some soundscapes: Men following their mule caravans,directing them with whistles, karate yells and stick slapping, the constant rumble of the blue-grey Marsyangdi Khola (river), the rising and fading growl of the countless waterfalls we passed (anyone who will see our photos will be thinking "Oh great, another waterfall shot"), Nepali uniformed children on their way to school singing and asking for "Pensweetsbuiscuits", the constant "Namaste" from everyone to everyone, the low pitched "dong" from the bells attached to the donkeys to alert you of their approach, the Canadian couple we met arguing through the thin walls...getting colder the higher we go...
um smells.....donkeys and the spectrum of smells that emit from them, Nepali cigarettes, green tangerines (the best I've ever tasted, eh T?), flatulence, apples (Ray Liotta smells like apples!), various plant smells tough to describe, Nepalis cooking lunch, sleeping bag smells like moth balls, mentholated Tiger Balm.
...getting so cold that you seriously consider filling your sleeping bag rather than braving the cold for the call of nature....Gross!
Finally made it up to the goal - 5416m (17700 feet) up to the Thorung La pass - the highest in the world. Three 8 hour days downhill - blistered, bloody and bruised feet. Arrive at our end town, Beni. Hopped a bus to Pokahara, climbed up to the roof to meet our travelling companion - the world's dumbest sheep. Someone decided that they really need to take their sheep to Pokhara so they tied it to the roof by it's neck and it would not sit down the whole ride no matter how hard we tried. It kept pissing all over the roof - good thing we were going so slow the wind wasn't strong enough to spray it on us. We kept it facing us with our boots so it wouldn't turn around and hit us with some other form of relief. Well that's the adventure in a nut shell. It's really long. Thanks for reading it.
love, ludger
p.s. I dreamt I punched out Burt Renolds 'cause he stole my mail.
p.p.s. Sorry if I sent this twice. These Nepali computers are zany AND wacky!
Labels: travel
posted by Ludger Sylbaris at 4:43 PM
2 comments
